Just a Test Drive
by The Once and Future Thing
Summary: Many times in relationships, people just, try them out, take a trial period, or go for a test drive. What happens when Goliath come's to Elisa's appartment one night, just to talk?


Disclaimer: you get the point

A Test Drive

For Elisa Maze it had been a really long day. She'd barely gotten any sleep the for the entirety of the week due to the whole incident with Proteus then the train, and after that she had to put in a full day at work as well. Mat was kind enough to drive her home, He told her that 'if she couldn't keep her eyes open for more then 10 minutes, throughout the day, there was no way in hell that he'd let her drive herself home.' She hated to admit it but he was right, she fell asleep just as they had pulled out of the station.

Captain Chavez and the rest of the police force weren't very happy with her performance today. However out of kindness she'd been given the next to days off instead of desk duty. The squad was under the logic that this behavior just wasn't like her and she'd simply been over worked and needed some time off, lest she collapse.'

Yea, she'd been over-worked alright, everything with the gargoyles had wiped her clean of all of her energy, and as much as she loved her job, she needed a vacation, a long one, but for now, a couple of days would have to do.

Elisa sunk down into the steaming waters of her bath and gave a grown of relief, as she allowed the heat to sooth her aching muscles and finally have the chance to let her mind wander back to the embrace she'd shared with Goliath. She gave a contented and wistful sigh. She remembered how it felt to have his strong arms wrapped around her and the sound of his massive thundering heart. She shook her head and scolded herself; she wasn't supposed to be having fantasies about anything of a different species, that was just to……..weird. But ever since the whole incident with Puck and the Hunter's moon things have been different (oh the irony, Shakespeare has had his revenge)

Elisa got out of the bath and slipped into her "P.J.s" which at this time of the year consisted of short boxers and spaghetti strapped tank top that generously revealed her hips and stomach along with flattering her curves. She proceeded to sit on her bed and allow her mind to wander back to that sunrise after she and Goliath had been turned back into their respective forms. (A.N. this would be after the whole incident with Puck)

"He was trying to say something to me that night," Elisa thought to herself, "I probably should've listened to him." She said to herself, 'but I guess I was to afraid to hear what he had to say' she added as an afterthought.

"Listened to whom?" a deep masculine voice said behind her. She spun around suddenly and clutching her heart.

"Oh, hey big guy," she said in an exhausted and raspy voice, "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry I startled you Elisa but I was hoping that you and I could………well talk." Goliath looked at her with an odd nervousness in his eye.

"Now?" she said sinking ever deeper into her bed, "I'm really tired." However one look at Goliath's uncharacteristically pleading face changed her mind. "Well okay," she said in and exhausted tone, "I guess I can catch-up on sleep later, I have a couple days off." Goliath smiled a rare smile.

Elisa stretched and yawned allowing a generous amount of her feminine physic to be shown off.

"Close your mouth, you might start to drool," Elisa teased

" I, eh, um," Goliath coughed, "those close look, eh, really nice on you, " Goliath stammered.

Elisa laughed, "Hey, they're only P.J.s, buuuuuuuuuuut," she smiled and leaned closer to him, " If you like them that much I'll be happy to wear them more often." She started to walk off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Elisa where are you going?" Goliath asked with innocent wonder "the window is that way."

"I know, I'm just getting something quick, we never really get a chance to just talk, and whenever we do, it's usually with a pre-planned purpose," Elisa came back holding a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. "So I'm getting something to loosen our tongs." Goliath smiled but he felt a guilty twinge inside, because indeed he had come there with and agenda, but Elisa was right. They really never got a chance talk, and then it occurred to him how much he really didn't know about Elisa; her favorite food her favorite book, TV. Show, about her family. His interest was sparked.

She wrapped everything carfuly in some embroidered cloth and put in gently in a basket.

"So where to?" Elisa asked.

"Actually I-I was thinking that we could just sit on your balcony." Goliath hadn't intended this to really go anywhere.

"Sounds like a plan," She said as he helped her out of her apartment and onto the balcony. Elisa pored the wine into the glasses and sat next to goliath handing a glass to him, asked "So why the sudden urge to just…………..talk?"

"Well," said Goliath trying to forget the fact that he'd come here with a purpose, "after the whole incident with Proteus, I realized how little I know about you, I'd trust you readily with my life, yet I barely know anything about your past and your hobbies. The only way I could identify you was through the sordid details of a misunderstanding, I was ashamed of myself." Goliath allowed Elisa to become situated beside him. Her feet dangling over the edge she scooted closer to him.

"Don't feel bad Big-Guy, I don't' know much about you either, I barely know anything about your history, the only things I know are things I picked up along the way." Elisa lifted her glass, "A toast, to getting to know each other better." Goliath raised his glass and there was a soft clinking noise as their glasses met briefly. "To answer your question about the hobbies thing………well I don't have any other hobbies other then being a cop, and you guys, being in the N.Y.P.D. isn't a job, it's a way of life." Elisa finished.

Goliath smiled, "Yes, well I think we relate well on that subject."

"Hey, how are Fox and Xanatose doing? I haven't been able to see them much lately." Elisa was finding this a tad bit awkward at first trying to spark a conversation. Hey, at least she wasn't talking about the weather.

"They seem to be doing fine," Goliath said almost hesitantly," I haven't been able to observe them much either, It seems that both of our daily lives have become rather busy. But she did ask me to relay a message to you about your gown." Elisa looked up at him blankly:

"What gown?"

"The one you wore on All Hollow's Eve," Goliath responded, "I believe you lended a large piece of it to her so she could be covered decently on the ride home after her rather sordid encounter with the 'Eye of Oden'." Elisa gave him an understanding nod.

"Thanks."

"Tell me," said Goliath trying to keep the conversation going, "why were you wearing a ball-gown on All Hollow's Eve, I thought this was the time of year when Humans dressed up as demons and characters from stories?"

Elisa laughed, "That wasn't any old ball-gown, it's an exact replica of the ball gown that Belle wore in 'Beauty and the Beast'."

Goliath chuckled " Now I see why you wore it. However I believe I've read that story and I don't recall anything about that specific gown."

" It wasn't ever mentioned in the book, It's from the movie. You know, the one made by Disney."

"Yes, I think I've heard of it."

"Oh, it's a great movie, one of my favorites, even now that I'm not a kid anymore," she smiled up at Goliath "You and I should watch it together sometime, You'd love it!"

Goliath nodded in agreement "I think I would enjoy that."

"Oh, but you should've seen the look on my mother's face when I told her I lost the skirt on the job, she nearly gutted me, after all the work she put into making that skirt, she said; ' If your going to be that reckless with the things I make for you, you can just remake the skirt yourself!'" Elisa laughed after doing a rather uncanny impression of her mother. Goliath was almost taken aback, she'd never herd her talk of her family other then her brother, and even then…………….. And her laugh, it was gorgeous.

"You've never mentioned your family, in that sense before," Goliath said already intrigued "What are human families like, what are your parents like? I've already met your mother, but I don't know a lot about her other then the thing that she told me herself."

"All right, all right but only if you tell me about your parents," Elisa said pouring both of them another glass of wine.

4 hours later…………………...

Elisa lay exhausted against Goliath's chest sitting in his lap, His arms holding her close to him as his wings formed a cocoon of warmth within the cool late summer night air. The wine bottle and glasses lay on the patio all empty. Goliath was in heaven, and it wasn't the alcohol (it would take more than half of a bottle of wine to intoxicate a 700 pound gargoyle). However the same couldn't be said of Elisa. She, although strong, was much smaller and much more susceptible to the effects of the substance.

Goliath leaned down and rested his head in the crook of her neck. He breathed in her sent, how wonderful she smelled.

"Mnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, Goliath, that feels good," Elisa said nuzzling him slightly. Exhausted and intoxicated. Not the best time to engage her in a conversation about their relationship, and an even worse time to start to play courting games. But, Oh how he wanted to feel her kiss again. The dawn after the hunter's moon, when they shared a brief kiss. He'd never felt anything better.

He'd enjoyed the night thoroughly; Goliath couldn't remember the last time he'd conversed so easily with anyone, not even Demona before the thousand-year sleep. He lifted her up, entered her apartment and started to set her down on her bed, it would be a few hours until dawn and he thought it wise to leave and allow Elisa to rest.

"Hey, where are you going Big-guy," Elisa said sitting up in her bed, swaying slightly.

"Elisa, you need your sleep, and I must get back to the clan," Goliath stuttered. He now became thoroughly aware of how alone they were, and exactly how much skin her sleeping garments revealed. Elisa staggered over to him and leaned gently against his hulking form.

"No you don't," Elisa whispered, " Your clan is fine, they can take care of themselves, and besides," she added in a whisper that was barely audible, "If I went to sleep now, this night would have to end." Goliath allowed Elisa to guide him to the fireplace and sit him in front of it. Elisa crawled into his lap and kneeled so that she was about eye length with him.

"Everyone keeps telling me that humans and gargoyles can never be together and never get along, but look at us Goliath we're best friends, and I would trust you with my life in a heartbeat." Elisa leaned her forehead against his, "Listen there is something I've been wanting to talk to you about seriously ever since those hunters destroyed the clock tower, and you moved in with Xanitose."

"Does it have something to do with our conversation on the tower?" Goliath said eyeing her with a slight suspicion in his eye. He had read somewhere that humans that were drunk they were more likely to say things that they wouldn't say normally.

"Elisa no, we cannot talk about this now, you're intoxicated!" Goliath said trying to push her away,

"I'M NOT JUST SAYING THIS BECAUSE I'M DRUNK!" Elisa raised her voice enough to make even a 700 lbs gargoyle flinch slightly. Elisa sighed again, "I'm not just saying this because I'm drunk," Elisa whispered again, her face inches away from Goliath's. "I've wanted to say this, do this with you for a long time now, I've just…………….been a coward, I was to afraid to say this to you before. Any I know you already know this but Goliath, but I like you, a lot. No. I love you."

"I know," Goliath said in a hushed tone, "so do I. However an interspecies couple along the lines of human and gargoyle relationships are concerned has never happened before in recorded history."

" Why should that stop us," Elisa said angrily. Elisa sighed, "Listen Big-Guy, there has to be a first to everything, so what's stopping us now? Society? It's not like that's ever stopped us before so, why…………………. Why now?" Goliath took her and engulfed her in a massive embrace.

"My Elisa," whispered Goliath into her ear, "I would love nothing more then to take you and wed you into the clan, but I cannot predict how everyone would react. I know they would never hurt you, and I know that they would never push you away on purpose, but this has never-ever been done before, I don't know how the clan would react to, if I may so put it, 'taking it a step further' especially Angela." Elisa was amused by his slightly out of character phrase, but it had gotten the point across. How would the rest of not only the Human community but the gargoyle community react to Elisa Maza, a human, being wed and mated to a gargoyle?

"Goliath I…………" Elisa trailed off. She didn't really know what to say. She looked up at him. Meeting him eye to eye she finally saw how deeply he was shaken by their relationship; he was having to choose between duty and happiness. Usually something that came in one package for him.

"We don't have to tell anyone," Elisa whispered, "Please," she begged. "Let's just try it, just for a little while." God she was kidding herself, She knew she couldn't just go for a "test run" with Goliath. Elisa knew how she felt about Goliath and how much he meant to her. Goliath must have been thinking the same thing, for he was looking into her tired pleading eyes slightly critically. In all honestly, he couldn't stand seeing her like this. She looked exhausted, not just from the past week but from the past couple of years; Years of bottled up emotions, and stressful ordeals, were she was often forced to face things that really no human should face.

Goliath wanted nothing more for them to be together. He wanted to give her a comfortable life. He kept telling himself that. But looking into her eyes when she was like this every thing else seamed……………………..insignificant. He pulled her in close and did the one thing he'd been wanting to do all night, no all month; He kissed her.

Too much of Goliaths surprise she kissed back. He felt as though she was releasing every ounce of passion upon him when she started to return his kiss. She slipped her tong in and started exploring the caverns of his mouth, minding his fangs. God how she'd wanted to do this.

They finally broke apart. Elisa was gazing at him intently; passion overflowing from her eyes. She smirked slightly and said,

"I guess that would be a yes?" Goliath simply smiled and grunted slightly as he pulled her into another kiss as they both fell back onto the floor of Elisa apartment.

Goliath finally had to leave about 30 minutes before sunrise (he was cutting it rather close) He couldn't stay in Elisa's apartment, it wasn't safe do the fact that she was labeled a "Gargoyle-simpathist," and the fact that he would be raising suspicion from the clan.

Elisa had fallen a sleep about 45 minutes ago. Goliath stayed however. He had never enjoyed just being with someone this much, not even Demona, when they had been on good terms, had given him this much satisfaction. He lay there, just contented to be in her presence. However inevitable the sky had begun to lighten, so he had carried her to her bed, placed the covers gently atop her, and took his leave.

Goliath had made it back in time to be interrogated by the clan about his where a bouts. He had made an excuse that Elisa had come down with a bad cold and needed caring for. He hoped she was tired enough to play the part, however he couldn't shake the feeling that the clan, or at least Angela, was suspicious.

1 Month later:

Elisa had come back to her duty as a whole new person. She was on a role, busting cases, jailing criminals, and even doing her paper work on time. The force had attributed it to her short vacation and welcomed her back with great gusto, however her closer associates such as Maria Chaves and Matt Bluestone were very surprised and almost weary. It was very unlike Elisa to be acting the way she was. She was whistling in the hallway, staring off into space, sighing at lengthy intervals. Matt suspected alien probing or mind control, however Maria Chavez had a much more obvious answer; Matt couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of it.

"So Maza, who's the lucky guy?" Maria said with an uncharacteristically sly grin on her face.

"What!" Elisa said with a surprised voice. She'd been wondering why she had been called down to the Chief's office. "I have no Idea what you're talking about." Elisa then said sternly.

"Oh come-on Elisa," Maria said "I know you better then that; getting all your paper-work in on time, staring off into space when you think no ones looking, sighing! Your in love!"

Matt snorted, this was ridiculous. Elisa, in love? Yea, he had seen her check out a couple of times, but it would take more then any man could give to tame her.

"Matt don't you give me that," Maria said in almost a motherly fashion, "you'll get desk duty if you do that again."

"Captain, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Elisa stuttered, had she really been so obvious?

"Don't give me that Maza, I know you better then that," Maria Chavez was then affixing Elisa with a piercing stare.

"What does my love life have to do with work?" Elisa shot angrily.

"So you don't deny it?" Maria Chavez said triumph laced into her voice. Matt Bluestone was floored. Elisa, IN LOVE? No human man was capable of taming her; she was the wild cat, the panther of the department, IN LOVE. With who though? Matt's interest was sparked, he had to find out.

"What business is it of yours!" Elisa was pissed now, she never liked being cornered by anyone, and Maria Chavez was the only person Matt knew that could do it effectively. "Why is it that suddenly your business? You've never been interested in my personal life, especially my love life, before?! Why now!"

"I've always been interested in you personal life, Especially when in effects your performance on the force!" Maria Chavez and Elisa were now going toe to toe. Matt was standing as inconspicuous as possible in the corner of the room wishing he had popcorn.

"Is that all you care about, MY PERFORMANCE!" Elisa was really pissed. Matt would have hated to be her lover now. Especially because he'll have to deal with the after-shocks of this little snippet.

"That's not true, and you know it!" Maria countered. Elisa stormed out of her office. Matt went to go after her.

"Let her go," Maria said in an exhausted tone, "She needs to blow off some steam, besides her shifts done early tonight."

"Ugggggggggggg, I can't believe she did that to me!" Elisa had just finished her 5-minute rant on the behavior of Captain Chavez earlier that night. "And even worse, she's got Matt so interested that he won't stop pestering me about it."

"I believe the clan is getting suspicious as well," Goliath added on. "However I don't believe Captain Chavez intends any harm. She is only interested because she cares."

"Yea, I know," Elisa sighed, "But she could've picked a quieter way to express it. Not only is Matt snooping, but also the whole department is buzzing about my "mysterious lover." Elisa looked up at goliath with her piercing brown eyes and whispered " Goliath, I love you! I don't want this to end, being with you is…………..amazing." It was true, within first the three days that Goliath and Elisa had actually started "going steady," they had grown almost inseparable.

"How much longer do you think we can keep this a secret Elisa," Goliath asked in a suspiciously laid back tone, "The clan gets more and more suspicious by the day, and now that your clan is suspicious……." Goliath trailed off.

Elisa giggled, "You make it sound like we're committing a crime Big-guy." Elisa then sighed addressing the problem at hand, "I guess we'll just have to poke around a bit, you-know ask the 'what-if' questions, but don't be to obvious of coarse." Elisa finished.

From across the street on a high balcony sat Angela and Broadway watching the scene bellow them.

Angela let out a great sigh; "Don't they just look wonderful together?" Angela swooned.

Broadway looked a little skeptical, "Yea I guess, but I feel bad about spying on them like this." Angela observed Broadway for a while, observing him as he averted his eyes from Elisa and Goliath (who were now kissing passionately on Elisa's apartment balcony).

Angela laughed at his modesty. "What's so funny," Broadway said slightly offended.

"You are," Angela replied with a quick kiss on the cheek. " We'd better be getting back." Broadway just gave a sort-of half coherent nod. He was now staring at her with

Glazed eyes. The pair proceeded to climb over the rooftop, so Goliath and Elisa wouldn't see them take off, and fly back towards the castle.

AN: I plan on updating this but, I'm going to need some idea's (I'm a little stuck) so please review and tell me what you want done with the story. Feel free to give constructive criticisms as well.

Much love,

Ryuuartist


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